Place

Flag Room

The Flag Room can be accessed from the courtyard.  The room is about 20 feet wide and 30 feet long, with an arched ceiling about 17 feet high. The walls are built from rough shell stone blocks and mortar, are covered with smooth plaster. The room has several exhibits, in English and Spanish.  There is a closed doorway on the west wall at 11 o’clock. At 1 o’clock there is a 4 foot by 7 foot doorway to additional fort interpretive exhibits.  If standing at the entrance to the room, the description, moving from left to right, includes:  On the left wall, a Flag Room Timeline Exhibit showing key events, dating from 1500 to today. A separate audio description is available for this exhibit. On the far end of the wall is a locked door.  On the right wall is a tactile exhibit titled,  Fort City. A hand-drawn map of St. Augustine and the fort. Text explains that Spanish engineer Mariano de la Rocque created a 1788 map of St. Augustine. This map has helped researchers study the city’s layout and structures, including the fort. A tactile bronze model representing the fort sits on top of a four foot high base. The right and left sides of the exhibit have tactile keys of the tactile parts of the model and text and braille describing those parts. Below the model, on the front of the base is a wooden white square lattice pattern similar to the door in the Sally Port space.  To the right of the model is another exhibit, titled,  Enduring Monument, 1672-present. A historic black and white photograph shows a bird’s eye view of the fort in the early 20th century. Text explains that the Castillo de San Marcos is North America’s oldest masonry fortification. Spanish Floridians began the fortress in 1672, more than 100 years before the United States became a country. A computer rendering shows a room of the Castillo, filled with muskets. Text explains that this room may have been an arsenal for storing muskets and other handheld weapons. A photo of a historic handwritten document that describes the Spanish governor digging the first trench for the Castillo. A photograph of a ranger talking with visitors. The text explains that the National Park Service preserves and interprets Castillo de San Marcos as a national monument.

Quick Facts

Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Information - Ranger/Staff Member Present, Wheelchair Accessible

The flags in the first room represent the different nations the Castillo has served: Hapsburg and Bourbon Spain, Great Britain, the United States of America, and the Confederate States of America. Though the fort has changed hands between countries many times, every transfer was negotiated through treaty and agreement, not battle.

Castillo de San Marcos National Monument

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Last updated: March 11, 2021